The Seabird Resort Case Study

The Seabird Resort Takes Flight with Atlas+Fyne IsoFlare™ Premium In-Ceiling Loudspeakers

Welcome to Oceanside, CA — San Diego County’s coastal “living room” and home to The Seabird Ocean Resort and Spa. Voted as one of the best resorts in California, the Seabird offers a stunning oceanfront experience featuring curated art by visionaries hailing from the SoCal region, Californian cuisine you’ll want to savor with good company, and a buzzy ocean-view bar that serves as a premier spot to catch the best California sunset.

It’s no secret that ambiance and audio are critical elements to a bar’s success when everyone’s having a good time, people tend to stay longer and spend more money. Management wanted “to get the activity level up” in The Shore Room, so they contacted David Schwartz, Founder and President of Essential Communications, to improve the audio. Schwartz immediately recommended AtlasIED’s Atlas+Fyne in-ceiling loudspeakers. The Atlas+Fyne FC Series is the benchmark of premium loudspeakers in the commercial market, utilizing IsoFlare™ point-source technology to deliver outstanding off-axis clarity across all frequency ranges.

“I was blown away when I heard the [Atlas+Fyne] IsoFlare Series because they’re that good,” said Schwartz. “When Seabird staff told me they wanted a more music-centric environment, I immediately thought of FC. The room had in-ceiling loudspeakers from another manufacturer, and I said, ‘Hey, why don’t we just take what’s in the hole and put something else better in the hole?’ So we did the math and figured out the Atlas+Fyne FC would fit. And that’s what we did. And it was a home run.”

The FC-8T is a wide bandwidth, high sensitivity 8” in-ceiling loudspeaker designed for the ultimate in fidelity, coverage, and aesthetics. Unlike standard discrete and ‘coax’ offerings, the IsoFlare driver exhibits excellent harmonic alignment between HF and LF sources, the effect of which is to deliver accurate and natural reproduction with superb tonal balance, ensuring seamless integration in any environment. Propagating a spherical wavefront, homogeneously aligned on all axes, the IsoFlare point source driver yields an even response throughout the listening area, a constant time delay over the entire frequency spectrum, providing exceptional off-axis performance.

Hotel management also wanted to replace the surface-mount loudspeakers above their patio because they felt they didn’t “sound good.” Essential Communications performed a one-to-one replacement of the outdoor loudspeakers with weatherresistant AtlasIED AS Series surface-mount loudspeakers.

The AS-8T is a two-way compact surface-mount loudspeaker boasting an exceptional performance-to-size ratio for demanding foreground and background applications where durability, modern, understated aesthetics, and outstanding sonic performance are prerequisites. Featuring a high-excursion, weather-treated 8” woofer that seamlessly transitions to a 1” exit compression driver, the AS-8T delivers a consistent and accurate broadband frequency response, both on- and off-axis. Equipped with a low insertion loss 60W transformer for 70V or 100V distributed applications, wattage tap selection and low impedance bypass are easily configurable via a rear-mounted slide selector switch with a security cover. The durable, scuff-resistant, high-impact ABS enclosure with UV inhibitor is weather-resistant (IP55) for consistent performance in adverse conditions, both indoors and out.

With the new loudspeakers in place, The Shore Room no longer had an issue with guests leaving because the room felt noisy at weekend sound levels. The clearer, better-controlled sound encouraged patrons to stay longer, elevating the guest experience and customer satisfaction.

“The sound in The Shore Room is drastically improved over the previous system, allowing us more control over sound in specific areas as well as being able to increase the volume without it being overwhelming to guests,” said Russell Jackson, Food and Beverage Manager at the Seabird Ocean Resort and Spa. “The sound spreads more evenly and makes the environment much more comfortable for guests.”

Management was so pleased with the results that they’re planning to install Atlas+Fyne loudspeakers in the hotel’s aptly named Piper Restaurant later this year.

“The fun part for me is when somebody notices the changes and says, That sounds amazing,” said Schwartz. “That’s what I live for. In the Seabird’s case, staff directly equate the sound quality with their ability to entertain people, and it’s great to work with people who get it. The Atlas+Fyne IsoFlare are incredible loudspeakers, and I will definitely use them again.”